Ronnie Sidney, II, who spent seven years in Special Ed and graduated high school with a 1.8 GPA, is now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), therapist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. Despite being labeled as an African American student with learning disabilities, he also went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services at Old Dominion University in 2006. After that, he earned a Masters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work in 2014.

Now, Sidney is both a best-selling and award-winning author and entrepreneur. In 2015, he released an Amazon bestseller entitled Nelson Beats the Odds, a semiautobiographical comic book about a young man who struggles with the shame of being placed in special education. He also released another successful book entitled Tameka’s New Dress which addresses topics like 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hood trauma, parental substance abuse, kinship care and bullying with a gentle touch suitable for even the youngest 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.

For his work, in 2017, Old Dominion University honored Sidney with the prestigious Darden Award, an award given to Darden College of Education alumnus who have made outstanding achievements. In 2020, Virginia Commonwealth University featured Sidney in the Shafer Court Connections magazine, and he was one of 200 VCU Alumni featured in The Power Issue, which honored inspiring alumni.